Search engines have added a social touch to their results recently. Users now have the ability to see what results their friends Like and view recommendations through their searches.

Bing recently incorporated Facebook Likes into its results, making search more personalized. It’s described as the “Friend Effect”, where users are more inclined to make decisions based on the recommendations and opinions of friends. When a user conducts a search, it will show which (if any) of their friends liked the results. Also displayed in the search results, are Facebook users within the network that liked the same thing. Bing promotes the results that are liked by a friend on the front page of the search results.

To encourage more likes during a search, Bing introduced the Bing Bar. It is a downloadable tool that features a universal like button that lets the user like something even if the like button is not in the results page.

Bing created some ads to show the importance of a friend’s opinions when making decisions.

 

 

 

 

Back in March, Google released its +1 recommendation tool that lets users indicate whether they like a particular search result. In order to use the +1 recommendation, the user must activate their Google public profile through their Google account. Google will then display the user’s recommendation once they find something to +1. For instance, when a user is connected to their Gmail account, they will be able to see which one of their contacts recommended or +1’d a search result. A user’s recommendations or +1’s are stored on a new tab in a Google profile. Users have a choice to keep their +1 recommendations private or public. Google also indicates that the tool will soon be available for non-Google web pages like e-tail product pages, blogs and news sites.

 

 

Both Bing and Google recognize the importance of incorporating social features into search results. According to a recent survey conducted by Bing and Impulse Research, 90% of consumers seek advice from a family or friend before making a purchase decision. While Google might be the search engine leader, they have consistently been a step behind the competition when it comes to embracing “social”. Given the enormous amount of Facebook users, who are already familiar and comfortable using the like button, Bing seems to have the upper hand. Who do you think will win the social search race?